Long before the internationally-renown British Pop group One Direction ever hit the European music scene, another Pop group was making hit music. Originating from Glasgow, Scotland, Wet Wet Wet was one of the most talented bands in Great Britain from the 1980’s. At a time when America was enjoying music from the likes of Kim Carnes, Salt-n-Pepa and The Art of Noise, Europe also had Wet Wet Wet who was heating up the charts over there.

Having been formed in 1982, Wet Wet Wet made a name for themselves with one of the strongest Soul albums of the year 1987 entitled Popped in, Souled Out. With that album, the band would end up releasing several singles off of the release, which included the song that began their rise to fame- “Wishing I Was Lucky”. Altogether, Popped in, Souled Out would produce four singles for the band: “Wishing I Was Lucky,” “Sweet Little Mystery”, “Angel Eyes (Home and Away)” and “Temptation”. This release would eventually earn the band its first No. 1 album award.

Since the release of Popped in, Souled Out, the band (which includes: Graeme Clark, Tommy Cunningham, Neil Mitchell, and Marti Pellow, as well as unofficial fifth member Graeme Duffin) has released total seven studio albums, which includes the latest album, 2007’s Timeless. And Wet Wet Wet has continued to produce hit songs. The band has even put out a 2013 album called Step by Step: The Greatest Hits that includes the song “Wishing I was Lucky,” as well as their other No. 1 songs “With a Little Help From My Friends” (1988), the song originally made famous by The Beatles; ‘Goodnight Girl’ (1991); and ‘Love Is All Around’ (1994) (a song that was featured in the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral), as well as the rest of the band’s Top 40 singles.

The title Popped in, Souled Out is rather appropriate as the band Wet Wet Wet features a Soul-based sound to their music that is very commercial in its feel. The Soul base of the band’s music on this album is completely soaked in an eighties Pop delivery. The album’s songs like “I Remember,” “Angel Eyes” and “Words of Wisdom” all will take the listener back to the eighties as soon as the album is put on.

Amazingly, thirty years have passed since the initial release of the Popped in, Souled Out album. And like much of the music that had been created at the time, this album now has a timeless feel to it. And to celebrate the anniversary of that thirty-year mark, Wet Wet Wet has announced that they have created a special expanded edition of the Popped in, Souled Out album.

The new 2017 release of the album Popped in, Souled Out from Wet Wet Wet includes a lot more than just the original release. Like many other re-releases, Popped in, Souled Out comes complete in a multi-disc format. This re-release features five separate discs of music from Wet Wet Wet. Popped in, Souled Out from Wet Wet Wet was originally a thirteen-track album that featured twelve studio tracks including the aforementioned “Wishing I Was Lucky,” “Sweet Little Mystery”, “Angel Eyes (Home and Away)” and “Temptation”. The album also included one live track of the band performing “Wishing I Was Lucky” live at the Wendy May Show. This entire album is included in the new release and still includes that live Wendy May performance.

Along with the original thirteen tracks that made up the original album, the disc containing the initial tracks for the album also includes the tracks “Sweet Little Mystery (Live at Capital Radio),” “HTHDTGT (Live at Capital Radio)” (a track also known as “How the Hell Did They Get There”), “Angel Eyes (Single version),” “Temptation (Single version),” and “Sweet Little Mystery (Single version)”.

For the remaining discs that make up the five CD re-release of Popped in, Souled Out from Wet Wet Wet, Disc Two is entitled THE MEMPHIS SESSIONS WITH BONUS TRACKS and comes complete with eight regular songs and three Bonus tracks, Disc Three is entitled B-SIDES, REMIXES AND A NUMBER 1 and features thirteen tracks of various songs from the band’s recording history, Disc Four is entitled UNRELEASED AND RARITIES and features various tracks from various recording sessions from the band’s past as well as a few remixes that weren’t included on Disc Three. The final disc in the collection for this reissue is not a CD but a DVD featuring performances from Wet, Wet, Wet on BBC Television as well as band promos and a selection called “Snapshots – The Story of Popped In Souled Out”. That DVD is only part of the physical packaging for the album as the actual packaging is a photo album that features photos taken during the recording process of Popped In, Souled Out.

Altogether, the packaging for this 30th anniversary edition for the Popped In, Souled Out album from Wet Wet Wet is rather impressive. And for fans of the band Wet Wet Wet as well as those who have never heard of the band, this rerelease of the album Popped In, Souled Out is a nice tribute to a band that has had a strong musical career. The reissue for an album that has gone 5 times Platinum since its release is also nice way to introduce new fans of the band to not only the Popped In, Souled Out release, but other material from the band as well.